Posted by If you have spent any significant time on the Internet in recent years, you know that catching the attention of an online user is more important than ever before. It takes about 50 milliseconds for most online users to form an opinion of any website they visit, which ties into whether they will stay on a website or not. A range of different factors will impact an online user’s overall experience and opinion of any website they visit, including the marketing details that have been worked into the makeup of a website.
These details include everything from the visual design and content available on a site to the search engine optimization (SEO) implemented. SEO in particular is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting potential customers interested in the services and products that you offer. SEO helps convert visitors into actual customers, no matter the industry your business is in. But there is more to SEO than just creating some relevant keywords. It is important to take the customer through an entire journey, from the start of their initial discovery of a brand or business to their final purchase choice.
To help you better understand how SEO can really impact the customer journey from start to finish, we are going to take a look at the SEO funnel and its various stages.
What is an SEO Funnel?
In the world of marketing, an SEO funnel is a much more organic approach to connecting with customers when compared to other options like paid marketing and ads. An SEO funnel is essentially a concept that covers the journey that a person will take on a business’ website. This journey includes the following three stages:
- Discovery: People will find their way to a website and click over to it to learn more. Users, once aware of a site, will explore more and learn about a brand by exploring the available content on a site.
- Consideration: Users now know more about a brand or business and they are now considering whether they want to purchase a product or service.
- Action:Users now complete an action at this final stage, either purchasing a product or service, signing up for something like a subscription, or filling out a contact form to get in touch for more assistance.
Each stage of the SEO funnel is crucial, especially because as a potential customer starts their journey down the funnel, there is always the potential for them to drop off. Not every customer will make it through the entire funnel, which makes the SEO funnel an even more important part of your organic marketing.
The SEO funnel is used to attract visitors who are potential customers to a website, but it is also used to convert those potential customers into actual customers. This conversion makes the SEO funnel a critical part of any online marketing strategy.
An SEO company in Jacksonville, FL can help you implement an SEO funnel into your marketing strategy that will help kickstart a new organic outreach to customers for your online presence.
The SEO Funnel Stages
Now that you know what an SEO funnel is, we can take a closer look at the stages we mentioned above. Discovery, consolidation, and action are the three main components of the SEO funnel and the serve as the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel respectively as well.
Each part of the SEO funnel is important to the funnel as a whole. So, what makes each part tick?
Discovery – Top of the SEO Funnel
The top of the funnel is the start of the customer’s journey. This is where you should be researching relevant topics to your target audience, creating engaging and relevant content, and optimizing that content for searches that your potential customers will be performing. This part of the funnel is a great place to use backlinks in the content you offer on your site, as it will help encourage users to explore further on their own.
Discovery is when you reachout to your customers, be that over social media, through engaging content, or by offering them information that can help them.
Consideration – Middle of the SEO Funnel
The consideration stage is where potential customers are considering what options they have. This is where you want to remind them that you are a great choice to go with, no matter what you are offering. You can do this by having:
- Landing pages on your site that areoptimized
- Offer case studies of your success stories
- Resources that provide valuable insights, like a newsletter or tools
Action – Bottom of the SEO Funnel
Potential customers are ready to take the leap into becoming actual customers. They may still drop off at this part of the SEO funnel, but you can utilize effective SEO techniques to give them a final nudge in taking action – be that purchasing your product or reaching out to learn more about your services for their needs. Some techniques that can be employed in the bottom of the funnel include:
- Utilizing reviews and testimonials
- Offer exclusive deals, discounts, or incentives
- Streamline the checkout process
And there you have the SEO funnel in a nutshell. There are plenty of other features and elements that go into each individual part of the funnel itself, but this is a good starting point for anyone who is unfamiliar with the funnel.
The SEO funnel is a journey that you will be taking each individual potential customer on, from the time that they first discover you to the point of conversion where they become an actual customer.
To learn more about how an SEO funnel may be able to help your marketing strategy, consider speaking with an SEO company in Jacksonville, FL for more information.
About the Author
Split Reef is an SEO company in Jacksonville, Florida that offers a full suite of digital marketing and digital development services. They offer custom web development, digital marketing, and professional SEO for clients across all types of industries including those in the industrial and small business spaces as well as Jacksonville law firm SEO services. With a dedicated team of experts that keep up to date with industry changes and new tools, Split Reef understands the ins and outs of SEO and can help your website stand out from the crowd. To learn more about how they can help, reach out to them online or over the phone.